Tailboard



March 24, 1.1942. ICHTER TAILBOARD Filed sept. 6, 1939 s sheets-sheet 2 .waff

INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 24, 1942 ITED STTgES PATENT .OFFICE`v TAILBOARD Frank Richter, Weehawlxen, N. J., assignor to Mollie E. Richter, Weehawken, N. J.

Application September 6, 1939, Serial No,'293,538

(Cl. 214-75) a 9 Claims.

a tailboard raising and lowering mechanism,

which may or may not, use the force of gravity during the lowering operation, and which is mechanically operated by the vehicle motor during the raising operation; to provide sucha mechanisml in which the force of gravity plays no part when the lowering is being controlled by the mechanism; and to provide such a mechanisrn which at all times prevents articles from falling from the'tailboard toward the ground beyond the tailboard under the vehicle.

Other objects of the invention will in part'l be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which willbe exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objectsof the invention, reference should be had to the fololwing detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rear end of a truck with mechanism for raising and lowering a tailboard, all embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation, partly in section, of a part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 and taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective' view of a detail shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a Iplan view in cross section of a detail of the mechanism shown in Fig. l and taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig, 5 is a plan view of a modification of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation of the modified detail of Fig. 5 shown with other features of the invention;A

Fig. 7 is a view of a unit which is a part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 5;

of a truck embodying the modification of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a view in elevation, partly in section, of a portion ofthe mechanism shown in Fig. 8; and

^ Fig. 10 is a view in cross-section of an element ofthe mechanism shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

In the drawings, III denotes the oor of an automotive truck which has a tailboard I2 movable vertically while the tailboard is in hori- Azontal position. The tailboard is carried by a pair of supporting elements I4 which are positioned at the rear corners'of the truck and are slidable vertically with respect thereto. There may be a pair of channel irons I6 below the floor of the truck, and a pair of channel irons I8 above the oor of the truck in which the supports I4 may move. .The tailboard is usually pivotably attached to the supports, and means are provided to hold the outer edge of the board so vthat the entire board is horizontal. Thus there may be a pair of braces 20 at each side pivotably connected to the tailboard for moving the latter to and from a horizontalposition.

There gare means positioned at the rear cor- 'ners of the truck for raising the tailboard supports I4. A traction element, which may be a belt or a linked chain 22, is attached at one end to the upper end of one of the supports I4 and attached at its other end to the lower end of one of the supports I4. It passes by various idling sprockets 24 and around sprocket 26. The latter is attached to shaft 28 which extends horizontally under the floor I0 of the truck from side to side. At the other end of the shaft 28 there is a similar sprocket 26 and a similar chain, attached in asimilar fashion to the other supporting element I4. On the inside of the channel iron I6 there may be a track 30 along which the cross pieces of the chain 22 may slide,

Any suitable means may be used to deliver power to the `shaft 28 from the engine 32 of the truck. The following arrangement has been found satisfactory: Associated with the usual transmission box 34, there is a power take-off unit 36 in which there is the usual clutch and gearing elements. A shaft 38 extends back under the floor from the unit 36 and is mechanically linked to shaft 28 by a self-locking worm reducfion unit 21. The angle of the latter is less than 15. A handle 48 may be provided anywhere on the truck, and preferably near the rear end, for operating the clutch in the power take-off Fig. 8 is a perspectiveview of the rear end 55 unit 36, to which unit it is connected by any suitable assemblage of mechanical elements. -There is also a handle 42 which may be moved between .three positions, e. g., an upper, a middle and a lower position. This handle 42 is `connected through shaft 44 and other mechanical elements to the power take-off unit 36. In its upper position, as shown, it causes the gearing in that unit to rotate shaft 38 so that the supports I4 and tailboard l2 are raised. When handle 42 is in its middle position it disconnects shaft 38 from unit 36, and when it 'is in the lower position it so connects the unit and shaft 38 that the latter turns in an opposite direction, causing the tailboard to be lowered.

There are means for causing the tailboard supports to stop in their upward motion `when the tailboard reaches the level of the truck floor I0. An arm 45, attached to one of the supports I4, has a forked end which rides along an upright rod 46. The latter is pivoted to the end of an arm 48, w-hich is aixed to shaft 44. There is a nut 50 afxed to lthe upper end of the rod 46. When support i4 reaches a predetermined height, arm 45 comes in contact. with nut 50. raising it and the rod 46, thereby causing arm 48 and shaft 44 to rotate from the raising position to neutral position. This causes shaft 38 to cease to turn, and the tailboard comes to rest. Similarly, there is another nut 52 on rod 46 at the lower end thereof. Similarly, when the arm 45 is lowered along with the tailboard support, it contacts the lower nut 52 at a predetermined point in its travel. This causes shaft 44 to be moved in the opposite direction toward the neutral position, and again the motion of the tailboard is brought to a stop, this time before it reaches the ground.

Under some circumstances, it is desirable to let the force of gravity lower the tailboard rather than to operate it through the shaft 38. A mechanism for permitting this is shown in Figs. 5, 6 and '7-. In those gures a shaft 38 and the reduction unit 21 are like the similar parts of the mechanism shown in Fig'. l. Shaft 28, however, has a dog clutch 54 inserted therein. The latter is operated by any suitably placed handle 51. Shaft 28 is connected to sprockets 26 by intermediate gearing |21 and shaft |28. In order that the tailboard shall not descend too rapidly when gear 26 `is no longer connected with the reduction unit 21, there is a double acting dash pot 56 operated by a crank arm 58 on shaft 28.

It is often advantageous to have the horizontal space between the floor of the truck and the lowered tail piece closed so that the danger of goods falling oi from the tail piece and rolling under the truck is avoided. A device to accomplish this is shown in Figs. 8-10. Asheet |22 of any suitable material, and preferably a flexible material, is attached either to the bottom of the supports |4 or to one edge of the tailboard |2. It extends upward to the height of .the floor I0 and is carried over an idling roller 60 and thence to a roller 62 under the floor, to which it is attached. The roller 62 may be caused to roll in any convenient fashion, as by a gear 64 positioned to mesh with a gear |26 on shaft 28. The

latter may be connected to the engine the same Y way as shaft 28 in Fig. 1. There may be guiding rollers 66 to assist in positioning sheet |22. The sheet is attached to roller 62 in any desired fashion, as for example as shown in Fig. l0. The

subsidiary portions have a combined cylindrical surface on which sheet |22 may bewound up.

The operation of the device will be clear from theforegoing description. The handle 40 is rst operated, and then handle 42 is turned to raise or lower the tailboard. After the latter has been carried a predetermined maximum distance toward the ground or to the floor level, the mechanism automatically shuts oif. The lowering may be accomplished by gravity where the power drivemay be separated at some point, for example, the dog clutch mentioned.

There may be a releasable 'locking support or pin 10, preferably spring-operated, and adapted to 'extend rearwardly from below the truck floor to prevent the tailboard from descending except at such times as the operator desires.

Since certain changes may be made in the vmight be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1` The combination comprising a tailboard, an upright vertically-movable support therefor, a rotatable element, and a traction element having two ends attached respectively to said support at spaced points thereof and having contact with said rotatable element a vertical portion ofone end of said traction element extending parallel to said support, a vertical portion of the 'other end of said traction. element extending parallel to said support, the length of each of said portions depending upon the position of said tailboard, the combined lengths of portions being substantially constant.

2. The combination comprising a tailboard, an upright vertically-movable support therefor, a rotatable element, and a traction element having two ends attached respectively to said support at spaced points thereof .and having contact with said rotatable element.' one of said ends being higher than the remainder of said element, a ver-.

tical portion of one end of said traction element extending parallel to said support, a vertical por- 'tion of the other end of said traction element extending parallel to said support. the length of each of said portions depending upon the position of said tailboard, the combined lengths of portions being substantially constant.

3. The combination comprising a tailboard, an upright vertically-movable support therefor, a rotatable element, and a traction element hav'- ing two ends attached respectively to said support at spaced points thereof and having contact with said rotatable element, one of said points of attachment being above the other for all positions of said traction element, said rotatable element being adjacent said support, a vehicle associated with said tailboard, motive means for said vehicle, and means for delivering power fromsaid motive means to said rotatable element and composed of shafting and gearing, a vertical portion of one end of said traction element extending parallel to said support, a verticalvportion of the other end of said traction element extending parallel to said suppcrt, the length of each of said portions depending upon the position of said tailboard, the combined lengths of portions being substantially constant.

4. The combination comprising a tailboard, an upright vertically-movable support therefor, a rotatable element, and a traction element having two ends attached respectively to said support at spaced points thereof and having contact with said rotatable element, va vehicle as-y sociated with said ltailboard, motive means for said vehicle, means for delivering power from said motive vmeans to said rotatable element, means for disconnecting said power delivering means Afrom said tailboard support, and means operative when said power delivering means are disconnected for causing said support to descend more slowly than it otherwise would. 1

5. The combination comprising a tailboard, an upright vertically-movable support therefor, a sprocket, a chain having opposite ends each unconnected with the remainder of said chain except at; one point and having its ends attached respectively to an upper and a lower point of said support and engaging with said sprocket,

and means for limiting the motion of said ends to a vertical motion.

6. The combination comprising a tailboard, an upright vertically-movable support therefor, a sprocket, a chain having its ends attached respectively to an upper and a lower point of said support and engaging with said sprocket, a shaft for rotating said sprocket, a vehicle associated with said tailboard, motive means for said vehicle, and means for delivering 'power from said motive means to said shaft and including a selflocking Worm reduction unit.

'7. The combination comprising a tailboard, an

upright vertically-movable support therefor, a.

sprocket, a chain having its ends attachedrrespectively to an upper and a lower'point of said support and engaging with said sprocket, a-vehicle associated with said tailboard, motive means for said vehicle, and means for delivering power from said motive means to said sprocket and including a self-locking worm reduction unit.

8. The combination comprising a tailboard, an upright vertically-movable support therefor, a rotatable` element, a sheet having a lower edge permanently positioned adjacent an edge of said of said tailboard,

FRANK RICHTER. 

